Baby Hands
by Mujakina Choshi
Summary: SangoxMiroku. Sango ponders motherhood with Shippou. Can't make it any simpler than that. Praise the amazing Sango!


Baby Hands

Came to me while playing InuYasha: Secret of the Cursed Mask. I was looking at the status screen and I noticed something while looking at Shippou.

"Sango, could you hold Shippou for a minute? I think I hear InuYasha and Miroku bickering outside and I don't want them to wake the little guy up."

"Sure."

Carefully Kagome placed the burden in Sango's lap, who straightened her thighs to make a suitable bed for the sleeping demon. After seeing that the kit had embraced the change of hands, she left to ask the boys to quiet down. Sango mused that Miroku was probably teasing InuYasha about something. The monk was in a good mood, after all.

The reason being that Sango had just agreed to that age-old question.

"_I will bear your children."_

"_Really?Ten, or even twenty of them?"_

"…_Um… sure, I suppose…"_

The taijiya could feel blood rushing to her cheeks. It was embarrassing to even think about the conversation that led up to her decision. She cared for Miroku. There was no doubt about that. He was there for her, he had rescued her a number of times, and vice versa. He was a lech, that was for certain, too, but he had his serious moments. And his face… he wasn't exactly unpleasant to look at. She loved him, strange as it was to admit to herself, and for that reason she agreed, that after this horrible ordeal was over, she would settle down with him and Kohaku.

Maybe not all of it was horrible. If all went well after the downfall of Naraku, she could live with Miroku and Kohaku peacefully. And besides, if this hadn't happened, she never would have met Miroku, or Kagome, or InuYasha, or Shippou, who lay in her lap now.

She looked down at the sleeping fox demon. He was small. His head seemed large, and his hands and feet small. Well, his feet were that of a fox's- from the waist down Shippou had the features of a fox. Sango had confirmed this during the baths that Shippou took with her and Kagome, him being completely oblivious in his childhood innocence to the implications tied to being naked with women.

He had a full head of orange hair, but it was tied back in such a style that was typical for young boys in that era. A vest of fox fur- perhaps from a sibling or his parents- rested over his kimono and hakama. His little furry appearance was completed with a big fox tail, roughly the size of his own head.

Sango smiled. He was cute, especially when he was asleep and not getting into trouble. He was truly a child. A small child. Sango mused this as she stroked Shippou's temple, pushing his hair this way and that. She wondered what her own children would look like. Would they have his eyes? Her somewhat-dark brown hair? Would his lecherous tendencies get passed down to any sons they had? Well, that would likely be decided in the way they raised them.

Shippou stirred a little. He opened sleepy green eyes and looked up at Sango, who smiled at him. "Sango…? Where is everybody?"

"Just outside. They're just chatting. Did I wake you?"

"No…" He said drowsily, rubbing his eyes. Sango observed him for a moment longer, and before he could fall back asleep, she asked him softly, "Shippou… how old are you? In human years?"

Shippou looked at her quizzically for a moment, and being far too comfortable to move, simply closed his eyes and wiggled his fingers a little to show he was thinking about it. "I'm over 50… about… 57. I guess you could say that makes me 7 years old, I think… umm…"

Sango could see he was reluctant to admit he was still a kid. Slowly, she lifted Shippou's wrist and examined it with one hand. His hands were small, like a baby's, but they were hard, like a child who had played in dirt and water and grass. "Over 50 years old… that's many years to be inside such a small body."

"What…?" Shippou blinked, much too tired to understand what Sango was getting at or protest her gentle perusal of his hand. He looked up at her soft smile, her bangs falling in her face as she looked down at him, and her big, brown, sad eyes. "Sango… are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Shippou. Go back to sleep."

"If you insist." With that, he rolled over and quickly fell back asleep, as only a child can. Sango continued smiling, feeling a little drowsy herself. She liked Shippou, and she was certain she liked children. She wasn't afraid of having kids, she decided. She carefully picked the once again sleeping demon and placed him by Kilala, his favorite pillow, and laid down next to the both of them slowly. There was no need to rush anything. There was no need to be afraid or embarrassed. She was never more sure of her decision.

And secretly, she hoped one of them would turn out like Shippou.


End file.
